Possible increase in pay for Sheriff's department discussed

Published 3:12 pm, Wednesday, September 9, 2015

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Possible increase in pay for Sheriff's department discussed

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A final request to reconsider an increase in pay for qualified deputies within the Hale County Sheriff's Department was basically denied Wednesday, as the discussion highlighted a relatively short budget public hearing hosted by the Hale County Commissioners.

After reviewing Hale County's proposed 2016 budget and tax rate, Hale County Sheriff David Mull presented the commissioners with a letter requesting once again that the court reconsider Certificate Pay for deputies.

The Certificate Pay would be a raise for deputies who have served Hale County for a certain number of years and have reached master peace officer or master jailer certification.

Mull said the Certificate Pay would help him keep officers and attract new officers to Hale County instead of losing them to counties with more competitive wages.

"In the last three years, I have lost five deputies with more than 25 years' experience. Since the beginning of 2014, the Sheriff's office has approximately 52 new hires," Mull said in the letter.

"This coming year I could potentially lose up to 10 more deputies to retirement. The officers have many more years to work, but can retire at the same or better salary they receive working . . . and with the high demand for officers and the county's rate of pay, it would be very difficult to fill the open positions."

The amount needed to fulfill the Certificate Pay in the upcoming budget would be an additional $44,282.34, with includes Certificate Pay, taxes and retirement.

To offer a counterpoint, Hale County Judge Bill Coleman said the current local economy would not allow such an increase in the Sheriff's budget, as the county was still recovering from losses from the three-year drought that started in 2011.

"We go over line item by line item and we try to make sure that there's enough money in that line item that we fund the needs of that department for the year that's coming up," Coleman said. "Some of the things we looked at doing, some of the things we would have liked to have done would have required us to dig deep into significant amounts of our surplus, which we didn't want to do, or raise taxes. And looking at that, we decided to try to keep our tax rate at $.4918, which is a little over five cents less than the average tax rate in this area."

Then, Coleman stated that all department heads had made reasonable budget requests for the year except for the Sheriff's department.

"Sheriff, you came in and asked for more than $500,000 more than what you received this year," Coleman said. "And a request like that shows me that you are not interested in trying to help us make this budget. I understand the problem with trying to keep department personnel. The problem with the retirement, I don't see that as a problem. With the county contributing over 15 percent as a match to the seven percent that the employees put in, and I think that it's something to be proud of, that a person can work here 27 or 28 years and walk out making the same thing they're making working."

In terms of paying for Certificate Pay, which worked out to $275 a month extra for those who have achieved the certification, Coleman said other departments within Hale County where not getting increased pay for completing significant levels of extra training and having 15-plus years of service.

A request to do so in other departments was eventually tabled by commissioners a while back.

Coleman said to give the Certificate Pay to the deputies and not to others was "blatantly unfair."

Coleman than went on to add that the Sheriff's salary of $72,055 was 14 percent above the average for counties with populations similar to Hale County, while his Chief Deputy David Pool made $4,566 more than a commissioner.

"I think our salary structure for the Sheriff's department is fair," Coleman said. "I think our commissioners and some other elected officials are underpaid."

Commissioners, including Kenny Kernell, agreed with the judge's statements.

Coleman said it would be favorable to sit down next year and discuss salary structures for elected officials and employees that have been with the county more than 15 years and have taken it upon themselves to receive extra training. But Coleman added that it might be a couple more years before county finances were fully recovered from the drought.

Mull said he requested what he felt was necessary for his department and felt budget time was the appropriate time to make any requests.

"I requested what I feel is necessary, what I would like to see for the department," Mull said. "I would never expect everything that I request, but budget time is when I can make those requests. I'll work with you any way I can. But, when you have a $300,000 bill at the jail to replace the locks, there's hardly no way out of that. I certainly don't want to be considered someone that goes outside and does things I shouldn't. I've just got to come and request for my people."

Other requests by the sheriff during this budget procedure have included capital improvements to the Hale County Jail facility, for which Coleman said the court will work to try to find funding revenue sources.

In reviewing the budget, estimated revenues for the 2016 budget, excluding transfers, are projected at $15,191,677. Projected expenditures are $15,685,032.

The Commissioners will keep the current tax rate of $.4918 per $100 evaluation. This budget will raise more revenue from property taxes than last year by an amount of $116,485, which is a .01338 increase. The property tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll is $30,497.

The second public hearing of the county budget is set for 10 a.m. Monday at the Commissioner's Courtroom.